Sakibul Gani of Bihar slams triple hundred in First-Class debut in Ranji Trophy; creates world record

Kolkata, February 18: Sakibul Gani, the talented 22-year-old batsman from Bihar, smashed world record en route to becoming the first-ever batter to score a triple hundred on his debut first-class match on Friday (February 18).

Sakibul achieved this feat against Mizoram in the Ranji Trophy Plate Division match at the Jadhavpur Unitversity Campus Stadium in Kolkata.

Sakibul took 387 deliveries to reach his milestone and it contained 50 hits to the fence. This was also the first triple hundred of the current Ranji Trophy season.

With this triple hundred Sakibul broke the record of Madhya Pradesh batsman Ajay Rohera who made 267 on his first-class debut against Hyderabad in the 2018-19 season. Former Mumbai batsman Amol Muzumdar had made 260 against Haryana in the 1993-94 season.

In fact, Sakibul and his teammate Babul Kumar was involved in a 557-run stand for the fourth wicket, helping Bihar to go past 600-run mark in their first innings after electing to bat. Sakibul was dismissed for 341.

In the process, Babul also scored a double hundred and the duo made the Mizroam bowlers toil hard for one and half days. The current highest partnership for any wicket in first-class cricket is between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangkkara, a 624-run alliance against South Africa in 2006.

The exising highest partnership in Indian domestic cricket (Ranji Trophy) is a 594-run stand between Ankit Bawne and Swapnil Gugale of Maharashtra in the 2016-17 season.

Gani and Babul also created history as their 557-run partnership is only the second highest 4th wicket alliance in Ranji Trophy behind the 577 runs made between Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad for Baroda in the 1946-47 season.

Other than Sakibul, senior India batsman Ajinkya Rahane, India under-19 captain Yash Dhull, Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan etc amassed hundreds and double hundreds in the first two days of Ranji Trophy matches.